And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, (A)“Amen, Amen,” (B)lifting up their hands. (C)And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

Read full chapter

5-6 Ezra opened the book. Every eye was on him (he was standing on the raised platform) and as he opened the book everyone stood. Then Ezra praised God, the great God, and all the people responded, “Oh Yes! Yes!” with hands raised high. And then they fell to their knees in worship of God, their faces to the ground.

Read full chapter

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

16 (A)And he came to (B)Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And (C)as was his custom, (D)he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up (E)to read. 17 And (F)the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18 (G)“The Spirit of the Lord (H)is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to (I)proclaim good news to the poor.
(J)He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and (K)recovering of sight to the blind,
    (L)to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 (M)to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

Read full chapter

16-21 He came to Nazareth where he had been raised. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,

God’s Spirit is on me;
    he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor,
Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and
    recovery of sight to the blind,
To set the burdened and battered free,
    to announce, “This is God’s time to shine!”

He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, “You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.”

Read full chapter